Memorializing the Pandemic with John Henry Thompson and Homer Jackson
Memorializing the Pandemic with John Henry Thompson and Homer Jackson
We have lost more than 900,000 lives globally to the COVID-19 pandemic this year. As the numbers continue to rise by the thousands daily, John Henry Thompson, a computer scientist and artist, has been visually tracking the rising numbers through an online dashboard. In a presentation of how this data can be humanized, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Jackson will address and have open dialogue with the questions:
How can we begin to mourn and memorialize who we have lost in the midst of this pandemic? How can we assess the pandemic’s impact on families and the communities of the deceased? How can we build enduring institutions which address systemic inequalities?
Mr. Thompson studied art at the New York Student Art League and the Boston Museum School and earned a degree in Computer Science and Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983. Mr. Thompson was the principal engineer for Adobe/Macromedia Director, the inventor and developer of Lingo and XObjects, and a professor of new media at New York University—Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program.
John Henry Thompson is now Partner and Chief Scientist at EP Visual Design, http://www.epvisual.com/
and Adjunct professor in the graduate division of New York University's -Tisch-ITP program: https://tisch.nyu.edu/itp/
Homer Jackson is a talented interdisciplinary artist from Philadelphia with a background in teaching and social service. With over 20 years experience as a teaching artist working in community settings, Mr. Jackson has served as project director for a number of arts & humanities projects and has conducted workshops in senior centers, prisons, schools and community organizations. In 1996, he received special recognition for his work with Youth-at-Risk from the President's Committee on Arts & Humanities. Mr. Jackson has received support for his work from the Wyncote Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Civitella Rainieri Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Pennsylvania Radio Theatre, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, The Playwrights Center, Pennsylvania Humanities Council, The Funding Exchange, Art Matters, and Franklin Furnace Fund For Performance Art. Homer Jackson lives and works in Philadelphia and currently serves as the director of the Philadelphia Jazz Project.
More about the project and Mr. Thompson:
https://epvisual.com/COVID-19-Impact/Dashboard/
On-line presentation